Wireless communications are known. Wireless systems making use of frequency reuse, such as cellular systems, are virtually ubiquitous and dispatch services are also well integrated and dispersed. Both are key components of modern infrastructure.
Now, at least one group seeks to define a new wireless communications service to specifically facilitate terrestrial-based vehicular journeys (particularly for automobiles and trucks). Presently known as dedicated short range communications (DSRC), the Federal Communications Commission in the United States has presently at least tentatively identified spectrum that can be used for such journey-related information. The American Society for Testing and Materials presently acts as a standards development group to define such a communications service to support provision of journey-related information to vehicular users. At present, the over-the-air interface has not been defined (though at least two wireless local area network systems—the I.E.E.E. #802.11A and Motorola's control channel based Freespace system—have been proposed and are being considered). This group has, however, made considerable progress towards defining the services that the service will support. In particular, such a journey-related information provision system should ultimately provide roadside information and corresponding vehicle-to-vehicle communications to support both public safety and private requirements (depending upon the application transmission range will likely vary from fifteen meters to three hundred meters).
As an example of public safety services, such a roadside information system can be expected to support:    Traffic count (for example, determining the number of vehicles that traverse an intersection over a given period of time);    Traffic movement information;    Toll collection;    In-vehicle signage (for example, presenting “stop” information within the cockpit of a vehicle as the vehicle approaches a stop sign);    Road condition warnings;    Intersection collision avoidance (including highway/rail intersections);    Vehicle-to-vehicle information (for example, stopped vehicle or slowing vehicle information);    Rollover warnings;    Low bridge warnings;    Border clearance facilitation;    On-board safety data transfer;    Driver's daily log;    Vehicle safety inspection information; and    Emergency vehicle traffic signal preemption.Examples of private requirements include;    Premises access control;    Gasoline payment;    Drive-through retail payment;    Parking lot payments;    Various vehicular related data transfers (for example, diagnostic data, repair service record data, vehicular computer program updates, map information, and user content such as music);    Rental car processing;    Fleet management;    Locomotive fuel monitoring; and    Locomotive data transfer.
These capabilities and services hold promise for safer, more convenient, and even more pleasurable terrestrial based journeys. Notwithstanding such promise, however, certain needs and opportunities remain unmet and unaddressed by either such systems as proposed above or as are otherwise available in the prior art. For example, no consideration has been given to utilizing such infrastructure to aid in assisting vehicles to avoid collisions with nonautomotive roaming objects such as pedestrians, bicyclists, domestic animals and the like. While active sensors such as automotive radar and night vision systems have been proposed to assist in this regard, no suggestion has been made that a dedicated short range radio frequency-based roadside information service infrastructure could be leveraged towards such ends. Similarly, no consideration has been given to other benefits that might accrue to a pedestrian or other nonautomotive roaming object through favorable interaction with such a service.
A need therefore exists for a way to benefit both the safety and convenience of pedestrians and other nonautomotive roaming objects through some appropriate interaction with a dedicated short range radio frequency-based roadside information service. Solutions should preferably not require a significant expansion of the standard infrastructure for such a system.